Heat dissipation device with heat pipe

ABSTRACT

An exemplary heat dissipation device dissipating heat generated by an electronic element mounted on a printed circuit board includes a supporter, a heat conducting base, a first fin assembly and a heat pipe. The heat conducting base is securely attached to a bottom side of the supporter and thermally contacting the electronic element. The first fin assembly is securely attached to a top side of the supporter. The heat pipe includes an evaporator sandwiched between the supporter and the heat conducting base, and a condenser extending through the supporter and extending in the first fin assembly.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The disclosure relates to a heat dissipation device with a heat pipe.

2. Description of Related Art

Among an almost endless variety of heat dissipation devices, one kind ofheat dissipation device includes a base thermally contacting aheat-generating electronic element mounted on a printed circuit board,and a number of fins disposed on the base. Most of the heat generated bythe heat-generating electronic element is absorbed by the base and isconducted from the base to the fins. However, only a part of the base,usually the middle part, contacts the heat-generating electronicelement. The heat originating from the heat-generating electronicelement is directly absorbed by the middle part of the base, and doesnot very quickly spread to the other parts of the base. As a result, themiddle part of the base may be overheated, while the temperature of theother parts of the base is relatively low. The fins on the other partsof the base are not efficiently utilized.

What is needed, therefore, is a heat dissipation device which canovercome the above-described shortcomings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Many aspects of the present heat dissipation device can be betterunderstood with reference to the following drawings. The components inthe drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis insteadbeing placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the presentheat dissipation device. Moreover, in the drawings, like referencenumerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

FIG. 1 is an isometric, exploded view of a heat dissipation device inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure, and a printedcircuit board.

FIG. 2 is an inverted view of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a partially exploded view of the heat dissipation device ofFIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a fully exploded view of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the heat dissipation device of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIGS. 1-3, an exemplary electronic device includes aprinted circuit board 100, a first and second electronic elements 110,120 mounted on the printed circuit board 100, and a heat dissipationdevice spreading heat of the first and second electronic elements 110,120. Heat generated by the first electronic element 110 is larger thanthat generated by the second electronic element 120. For example, thefirst electronic element 110 is a central processing unit (CPU), and thesecond electronic element 120 is a peripheral electronic element such asa capacitor.

The heat dissipation device includes a supporter 201, and a first heatdissipation module and a second heat dissipation module 230 secured tothe supporter 201. The first heat dissipation module is used todissipate heat generated by the first electronic element 110, and thesecond heat dissipation module 230 is used to dissipate heat generatedby the second electronic element 120. Referring also to FIGS. 4-5, thesupporter 201 is a rectangular plate, and is made of thermallyconductive metallic material such as copper, aluminum, and so on. Thesupporter 201 defines an opening 202 at a first side thereof tocorrespond to a fan, and the first heat dissipation module and thesecond heat dissipation module 230 are mounted on a neighboring secondside of the supporter 201. A baffling plate 203 extends downwardly froman edge defining the opening 202, and facilitates assembling of thefirst heat dissipation module and second heat dissipation module 230.

The first heat dissipation module includes a heat conducting base 210, aheat pipe 300 and a first fin assembly 220. A bottom surface of the heatconducting base 210 thermally contacts the first electronic element 110.The heat pipe 300 has a bent shape with portions extending in all threedimensions of a three-dimensional coordinate system (such as a Cartesiancoordinate system). More particularly, the heat pipe 300 includes anevaporator 310, a condenser 320, and an adiabatic section 330 connectedbetween the evaporator 310 and the condenser 320. The evaporator 310 isstraight, the adiabatic section 330 is curved, and the evaporator 310and the adiabatic section 330 are located in a common plane. Thecondenser 320 extends from the adiabatic section 330, and is located inanother plane inclined or perpendicular to the common plane. That is,the condenser 320 is not in the common plane of the evaporator 310 andthe adiabatic section 330. In the present embodiment, the evaporator 310and the adiabatic section 330 are horizontally disposed on a bottomsurface of the supporter 201, and the evaporator 310 is sandwichedbetween the bottom surface of the supporter 201 and a top surface of theheat conducting base 210. The bottom surface of the supporter 201defines a groove (not labeled) receiving the evaporator 310.

The first fin assembly 220 is disposed on a top surface of the supporter201. The condenser 320 of the heat pipe 300 is located at a top side ofthe supporter 201 and extends through the supporter 201 and the firstfin assembly 220. In particular, the supporter 201 defines a throughhole 204 therein, through which the condenser 320 extends. With thisconfiguration, the heat generated by the first electronic element 110and absorbed by the heat conducting base 210 is directly transferred tothe first fin assembly 220 by the heat pipe 300. Thus, the heatgenerated by the first electronic element 110 can be rapidly spread outand is apt to not accumulate at the heat conducting base 210. The firstfin assembly 220 includes a heat conducting plate 221 perpendicular tothe top surface of the supporter 201, two groups of first fins 222extending inwardly from an inner side of the heat conducting plate 221,and a number of second fins 223 extending outwardly from an outer sideof the heat conducting plate 221. A groove 2210 receiving the condenser320 is defined in the inner side of the heat conducting plate 221, andis located between the two groups of the first fins 222. The first andsecond fins 222, 223 are parallel with the heat conducting plate 221.The first fins 222 are disposed on a top portion of the inner side ofthe heat conducting plate 221, and the second fins 223 extend from a topend to a bottom end of the outer side of the heat conducting plate 221.

The second heat dissipation module 230 includes a seat 231 securelyattached to the supporter 201, and a number of fins 232 perpendicularlyformed on the seat 231. The supporter 201 defines a mounting opening 205adjacent the heat conducting base 210 of the first heat dissipationmodule, and the seat 231 is fixed to edges defining the mounting opening205. The fins 232 extend through the mounting opening 231 and arelocated at the top side of the supporter 201. The seat 231 thermallycontacts the second electronic element 120 mounted on the printedcircuit board 100.

The first fin assembly 220 and the second heat dissipation module 230are disposed substantially on a same side of the supporter 201, i.e.,the top side of the supporter 201. To save space, portions of the firstfin assembly 220 and the second heat dissipation module 230 cross eachother. The fins 232 of the second heat dissipation module 230 includes aset of low fins 2321 near the first fins 222 of the first fin assembly220, and a set of low fins 2322 adjacent the low fins 2321. The firstfins 222 of the first fin assembly 220 are located over the low fins2321 of the second heat dissipation module 230, and extend up to a sameheight as the high fins 2322. The low and high fins 2321, 2322 areperpendicular to the first fins 222; and correspondingly, air passagesdefined by the low and high fins 2321, 2322 are perpendicular to airpassages defined by the first fins 222. With the crossed configuration,the first heat dissipation module and the second heat dissipation module230 dissipate the heat of the first and second electronic elements 110,120, respectively. Cooling air driven by the fan flows from the firstside of the supporter 201 to the second side of the supporter 201 andflows into the air passages of the first fins 222 of the first finassembly 220 and the second heat dissipation module 230, therebysimultaneously dissipating the heat of the first fin assembly 220 andthe second heat dissipation module 230.

It is understood that the first fin assembly 220 and the second heatdissipation module 230 can be secured to the supporter 201 by bolting,welding or other suitable means. According to the amount of heatexpected to be output from the first electronic element 110, two or moreheat pipes 300 may be applied to the first heat dissipation module todissipate the heat generated by the first electronic element 110.

When the electronic device works, the heat generated by the firstelectronic element 110 is absorbed by the heat conducting base 210, isdirectly transferred to the evaporator 310 of the heat pipe 300, issubsequently transferred to the condenser 320 of the heat pipe 300, andis then subsequently transferred to the first fins 220 to dissipate outto ambient air. To save space, one part of the first heat dissipationmodule is disposed at the bottom side of the supporter 201, i.e., theheat conducting base 210 and the evaporator 310 are located at thebottom side of the supporter 201; and another part of the first heatdissipation module is disposed at the top side of the supporter 201,i.e., the first fins 220 are located at the top side of the supporter201. The heat generated by the first electronic element 110 below thesupporter 201 is transferred from the bottom side to the top side of thesupporter 201 by the bent shaped heat pipe 300. Therefore, the bentshaped heat pipe 300 enables the first heat dissipation module to have arelatively small volume, and simultaneously improves the heatdissipating efficiency of the first heat dissipation module.

It is to be understood, however, that even though numerouscharacteristics and advantages of the present embodiments have been setforth in the foregoing description, together with details of theconfigurations and functions of the embodiments, the disclosure isillustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially inmatters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principlesof the embodiments to the full extent indicated by the broad generalmeaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A heat dissipation device dissipating heatgenerated by an electronic element mounted on a printed circuit board,the heat dissipation device comprising: a supporter; a heat conductingbase attached to a bottom side of the supporter and thermally contactingthe electronic element; a first fin assembly attached to a top side ofthe supporter; and a heat pipe comprising an evaporator, a condenser,and an adiabatic section interconnecting the evaporator and thecondenser, the condenser being not in a common plane defined by theevaporator and the adiabatic section, the evaporator sandwiched betweenthe supporter and the heat conducting base, the heat pipe extendingthrough the supporter, and the condenser extending in the first finassembly; wherein the evaporator and the adiabatic section arehorizontally disposed on a bottom surface of the supporter, and thecondenser is perpendicular to the common plane defined by the evaporatorand the adiabatic section.
 2. The heat dissipation device of claim 1,wherein the heat conducting base defines a groove receiving theevaporator therein.
 3. A heat dissipation device for dissipating heatgenerated by at least one electronic element mounted on a printedcircuit board, the heat dissipation device comprising: a first heatdissipation module for dissipating heat generated by a first electronicelement mounted on the printed circuit board, the first heat dissipationmodule comprising a supporter, a heat conducting base disposed on abottom side of the supporter and configured for thermally contacting thefirst electronic element, a first fin assembly disposed on a top side ofthe supporter, and a bent heat pipe thermally connecting the heatconducting base to the first fin assembly; wherein the heat pipecomprises an evaporator sandwiched between the supporter and the heatconducting base, a condenser thermally engaged with the first finassembly, and an adiabatic section connected between the evaporator andthe condenser, the condenser being not in a common plane defined by theevaporator and the adiabatic section; and wherein the evaporator and theadiabatic section are mounted at a bottom surface of the supporter, theheat pipe extends through the supporter, and the condenser extends inthe first fin assembly.
 4. A heat dissipation device dissipating heatgenerated by an electronic element mounted on a printed circuit board,the heat dissipation device comprising: a supporter; a heat conductingbase attached to a bottom side of the supporter and thermally contactingthe electronic element; a first fin assembly attached to a top side ofthe supporter, the first fin assembly comprising a heat conductingplate, a plurality of first fins extending inwardly from an inner sideof the heat conducting plate, and a plurality of second fins extendingoutwardly from an outer side of the heat conducting plate; a second finassembly comprising a seat attached to the top side of the supporter anda plurality of fins perpendicularly formed on the seat, the fins of thesecond fin assembly being perpendicular to the first fins of the firstfin assembly; and a heat pipe comprising an evaporator, a condenser, andan adiabatic section interconnecting the evaporator and the condenser,the condenser being not in a common plane defined by the evaporator andthe adiabatic section, the evaporator sandwiched between the supporterand the heat conducting base, the heat pipe extending through thesupporter, and the condenser extending in the first fin assembly.